Everton Football Club’s bid to build a brand new “iconic” stadium is back in the spotlight with the start of a formal public consultation.
Under the new campaign name, ‘The People’s Project’, the club aims to seek the public’s opinion on the proposed site at Bramley-Moore Dock, as well as leaving a sustainable legacy when the move is made from Goodison Park.
They will tour various locations in Liverpool and Wirral with information and discussion hubs for people to have their say on the scheme, finishing at New Brighton on December 1st.
This is the first part of a two-stage community and stakeholder plan which will lead up to making a planning application in the second half of 2019.
Mo Maghazachi, Senior PR Manager for Everton, told JMU Journalism: “Not only is this the best site in the city, it is probably [Bramley-Moore Dock] the only available site.
“The impact that this is going to have on our city is positive. We are talking about £1bn boost to our local economy with approximately 15,000 jobs and 4.5 million visitors into the city.”
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The second stage will take place next summer when they will be consulting on the detailed designs of the stadium as well as the fate of the Goodison Park venue.
Mr Maghazachi said: “We have registered Goodison as an assest of community value. This means it will be sold off to the highest bidder – it’s not going to be a supermarket, or a housing estate.
“What we are currently doing is looking at unity uses for it, such as the work that we are currently doing at Spellow Lane. We have put an £8m pound investment into that area and what we are using Goodison Park for is the opportunity to build on that investment and the community work we have done.”
Anyone can contribute towards the People’s Project and have their say on the proposals – even Liverpool fans.
Earlier this week, 22 Liverpool business leaders signed an open letter explaining why they feel every city resident should back Everton’s bid to build a new stadium “regardless of their footballing allegiance”.